Tangoe Takes To The Markets

One of Connecticut’s fastest-growing tech companies has just gone public, selling shares on the Nasdaq for the first time. As WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports, software provider Tangoe chose an interesting moment for its debut on the markets.

Tangoe, which is based in Orange, makes software that helps large corporations manages the expenses associated with communications technology. It was founded in 2000, and has grown to employ more than 800 people in the last decade, while expanding into Europe and Asia. Founder and CEO Al Subbloie says up to now the company had been funded with venture capital, but it had reached the point where an initial public offering made sense, partly to fund future mergers and acquisitions, and partly to better position the company financially.

“We had some debt on our balance sheet and we wanted to pay that off. That is paid off at this point. We also work with very large global organizations – and they’re more comfortable doing business with a company that is public, with obviously a stronger balance sheet.”

But the markets have been buffeted in recent months by the threat of government defaults in Europe and the debt ceiling crisis in the US. Still, Subbloie says he wasn’t worried by the timing.

“We’re doing this for long-term reasons, not for short-term. And because of that, while it’s an exciting event, and our entire employee base is really charged up about our opportunity, we’re really doing this for the long-term. So once again, having good fundamentals – good companies with good fundamentals can get public even in choppy markets.”

His confidence has been justified so far. Tangoe’s shares initially rose almost $2 from their offer price of $10, and were recently trading at $11.50.